When head coach Joanne P. McCallie came to MSU to coach the women's basketball team five years ago, she had a plan to build a program and get the Spartans national recognition.

Almost as planned, McCallie finds herself in a good position to make a run at a national championship this year.

"It is hard to say that this is where I saw the program being at this point in my career here," McCallie said. "We have always wanted to have a great team and build a consistent winner, but it is a long journey to get there and we have a long ways to go still."

Since McCallie came to MSU in 2000, she has seen her team improve each year and can only be excited about the future of the program.

Her first year on the job, the Spartans went 10-18 and finished ninth in the Big Ten. The following year she led the team to a 19-13 finish, and another ninth-place showing in the conference. She did however, get the team all the way to the semifinal game of the women's National Invitational

Tournament, before being defeated by Oregon.

She finally got her squad out of the bottom half of the Big Ten in her third year, leading the team to a 17-12 record and a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten.

This time, the Spartans found themselves in the women's NCAA Tournament, where they made an early exit at the hands of the Texas Christian.

Last year, McCallie led the Spartans to a 22-9 season and another fourth-place finish in the Big Ten, including another trip to the NCAA Tournament before getting knocked out in the second round by Texas.

"I have pictured great success for the program in all areas," McCallie said. "I can only hope that we continue to improve each year and allow ourselves to play to our full potential."

So far this year, McCallie has gotten the Spartans off to their best start in school history, and MSU finds itself currently in a three-way tie for second place in the Big Ten, including a No. 8 ranking in the Associated Press polls.

The team is led by two seniors and two juniors who have been with McCallie over the last three or four years and have helped the program break the mold of a fairly unsuccessful program.

Senior guard Kristin Haynie knew what she was getting into when she came to MSU to play basketball.

"Coming into this program I knew Coach (McCallie) and her staff were trying to turn this program around," Haynie said. "I feel that they have definitely succeeded to this point."

Junior guard Lindsay Bowen still feels there is more to accomplish before the program is at the top of the ranks.

"I have always pictured winning a national championship and building the program to be the best," Bowen said. "We have to start somewhere though and that is winning the Big Ten Championship."

In McCallie's first season, the Spartans drew an average of 2,140 fans and that number improved in her second year to 2,623 fans per game.

Then, in her third year, McCallie saw her Spartans draw an average crowd of 5,211 people per game, with that number growing by just more than 100 more in her next year. She was here when the Spartans drew their record crowd for a women's basketball game - 12,058 people against Kent State on Dec. 3, 2002.

When asked about a program she has modeled her program after, McCallie said she has had one team in her sight when it comes to matching their prestige.

"My model has been (Connecticut) and it was nice to play and do well against them this year," McCallie said. "To me UConn has had the most dominance over any other program and they have been a motivator because they have done some unbelievable things.

"So that has kind of been a place I have always tried to track their years of success and hope that we are somewhere on target to reach that great status."

With the growth of interest in women's basketball and now the excitement behind the MSU women's program, McCallie and her team has picked a great time to emerge as a top team in women's basketball.

Regardless of what happens the rest of the season, this team has already left its mark on the court and in the record books.